REMARKABLE FACTS ABOUT CHICAGO NATURE
Fact 2: Chicago Has A Native Cactus!
(Experience the Magic of Nature Near Your Home)
Eastern prickly pear cactus blooms in late June in sandy preserves around the Chicago area.
It’s wintertime. So why am I showing you this plant of the desert in a book about Chicago’s natural wonders? First, I did it to remind the weenies, those who complain about the weather as they walk out into the blizzard without a hat, that there is a place called Arizona. But my primary motivation is to provide support to the real Chicagoans, the hearty souls who love it here, by introducing them to a kindred spirit and probably our most unexpected neighbor. Meet the eastern prickly pear cactus. Yes, it seems crazy, but Chicago has a native cactus!
If you’d like to pay a visit to this longtime and sometimes bristly resident, maybe to exchange ideas or the occasional barb, look for habitats with sandy or rocky soils, like those found at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion, Powderhorn Marsh and Prairie (located in Chicago proper), Tolleston Dunes Trail (part of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore), or here, at Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve near the Fox River.
—Mike
P.S. If you find this website of Chicago nature information useful, please consider donating or purchasing my nationally-acclaimed book that celebrates all of the preserves featured on this website.
